Tag Archives: music

Feature Article, Idols, Interviews

A Reason to Never Oshihen: An Interview with GARUDA, HALUKA and Satanic Punish at Ikigai Vol. 2

Leave a comment

Kelly, Amanda
Translators: Justin, Baz

Hosted by The Chocolate Brothers and the Dutch Idol Community and held between September 20th in Arnhem, The Netherlands, and September 21st in Koln, Germany, Ikigai Vol. 2 saw the return of GARUDA and Satanic Punish on European soil, as well as marking the debut of DIABLEVOIX’s Haluka in her first overseas tour.

For these two evenings, fans of these three acts had the chance to experience a show filled with incredible vocals, relentless energy, and the possibility of a strained neck the following morning, thanks to all the headbanging that went on.

For some fans, however, the weekend did not end at the Blue Shell with a final song, as those who had purchased off-kai tickets had the absolute pleasure of joining GARUDA, Satanic Punish and DIABLEVOIX’s HALUKA for an off-kai event the following Sunday.

It is also that, on this day, Beyond Senpai’s Kelly and Amanda were fortunate enough to attend as well and, for the first time since this site’s inception, both Amanda and Kelly were given the opportunity to deliver their first in-person interview to these three legendary performers.

So, it was with a great amount of nerves and some shoddy Japanese pronunciation that our interview began. With the help of Justin and Baz, who aided in translating the performers answers for us, Beyond Senpai joined Yuffie, Haluka, Manamu and LinLin at the front of the event hall to deliver the Ikigai Vol. 2 Interview, right in front of the fans…

Continue reading A Reason to Never Oshihen: An Interview with GARUDA, HALUKA and Satanic Punish at Ikigai Vol. 2 →
Idols, Music Review

Expressing The Duality of Human Nature: A Look At GCiB’s Suki ni nare! and Aishite

Leave a comment

*All images used within this post have been sourced from @gcib_official on Twitter.

Since unveiling their brand new line-up back in June of this year, idol group GCiB have started making waves the social media platform Twitter (otherwise known as X). With a mission to grow their fanbase both nationally and internationally, the group have begun posting in both Japanese and English while also promoting their latest releases, Suki ni nare! and Aishite, both of which have been teased on social media ahead of their release.

Originally making their debut in February 2022, GCiB — originally known as Girls Crying in Bathroom — is a girls’ dance and vocal group that wish to go beyond the mere cuteness we expect from idols and express their strength, fragility and versatility through their music. With a major line-up change in the last quarter of 2023, the group has since returned to the idol scene as a 5-member unit from June of this year.

Comprised of original members Suzuki Nanaka and Suzuki Minami, as well as new members Aicha, Kosaka Momono and Isshiki Hanane, GCiB have now made their re-debut with two new tracks that are sure to entice fans both old and new into their unique worldview.

Continue reading Expressing The Duality of Human Nature: A Look At GCiB’s Suki ni nare! and Aishite →
News

Esprit D’Air announce ‘Seasons & Aeons’ Tour

Leave a comment

With 2024 still in motion, Esprit D’Air looks towards an exciting future in 2025.

With 2024 already over the halfway point, Esprit D’Air is already looking towards the year 2025. With their 15th anniversary on the horizon, it’s no surprise that the group is gearing up to create a memorable year for not only themselves, but their fans as well.

Just announced on July 31st, Esprit D’Air will hold their highly anticipated Seasons & Aeons Tour for 2025, with dates spanning across Europe. From England to Spain, Esprit D’Air have so far packed their up-coming tour with an impressive 9 countries in 15 different cities. Beginning on 22 March in Bristol, UK, the tour will conclude in Barcelona, Spain, on 28 April, with additional dates to be announced.

Due to the incredible success of their last European tour, which saw 17 of their 22 tour dates sold out, Esprit D’Air will now be playing at bigger venues with a capacity of 500 – 1,500 attendees,

Continue reading Esprit D’Air announce ‘Seasons & Aeons’ Tour →
Guest Article

Kickstarting Your Heart For The Cro-Magnons

Leave a comment

Article by: Beth / @magnonrockcave
Edited by: Kelly-Mae Matt

The last time I wrote anything about The Cro-Magnons – or ダ・クロマニヨンズ  as the t shirts are branded – they had 13 albums and counting. Now they have 17 albums, with at least 20 or so amazing hits among them. That’s not even counting the tracks by the same songwriters previous bands The Hi Lows, and perhaps the more globally famous The Blue Hearts. Basically, they’ve been writing great rock songs since 1985 and have barely ever stopped.

From L–R: Masaru Kobayashi (Ba.), Hiroto Kohmoto (Vo.), Masatoshi Mashima (Gr.), Katsuji Kirita (Dr.) (Photo courtesy of Sony Music Japan)

At this point, The Cro-Magnons are the longest running line-up of all three groups. Balancing the new energy of their current drummer Katsuji Kirita and bassist Masaru Kobayashi, alongside common denominators Mashima Masatoshi on guitar and Hiroto Kohmoto singing/playing the harmonica, the latter of which continues to steal the stage; this is not a bad thing and, as I have said before, Hiroto Kohmoto is a ball of energy and I just don’t know how he does it.

So, whether you have never heard of them and I convinced you in the past, or somewhere down the line you have heard a few songs and want to hear more, it begs the question: With this much of a discography, where do you start? Well, that’s ultimately subjective, and I’ll just cover The Cro-Magnons discography here, but I do have a source besides myself this time. 

Continue reading Kickstarting Your Heart For The Cro-Magnons →
Feature Article, Guest Article

Idols You Should Know (From The Depths of the Underground)

Leave a comment

Article By: Benny / @Codomomentality
Edited by: Kelly-Mae Matt

Hello there! This is Benny / Codomomentality!

Over on twitter, I recently made a post expressing my desire to see the Western fans of Japanese music get into more idol groups. Right now, it seems like a lot of people stick to the same stuff but, once you really dig into the depths of Idol, you will see that there’s so many diverse and amazing groups hidden within it, and that’s what I would like to show the Japanese music fans today.

With that being said, here are 5 groups that I think we should all be talking about more and showing our support for!

Continue reading Idols You Should Know (From The Depths of the Underground) →